Anderson@Large

'Zealiot' Spitzer Supporter Makes U-Turn

Gov. Eliot Spitzer is under increasing attack over his plan to hand out driver's licenses and non-driver IDs to illegal aliens. So, Spitzer touted former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke's endorsement as evidence his unilateral policy reversal is consistent with homeland security.

Spitzer, a former prosecutor, failed to ask Clarke about a prior inconsistent statement. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times back in June, Clarke wrote:

Potential terrorists here illegally can easily use phony licenses or, in many states, get real ones issued to them, along with credit cards and all of the other papers needed to blend into our society. . . Indeed, those arrested for allegedly planning to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey included illegal immigrants who apparently had little difficulty getting along in this country.

"Zealiot" Spitzer says he will push his reckless plan "with all the gusto possible." Well, he should fasten his seat belt because it's going to be a bumpy ride.

During this week's special session of the New York State Legislature, lawmakers will demolish Clarke's credibility head-on. You can tune in the Senate and the Assembly.

You can also sign a petition to prevent illegal aliens from receiving driver's licenses that is being circulated by Assemblyman Rob Walker.

Wanted: 10,000 Good Men

No, this isn't a personal ad. Instead, it's a plea to stop the killing in Philadelphia, where the homicide tally is 321.

To reduce the violence, community leaders, including music producer and entrepreneur Kenny Gamble, the Philadelphia Millions More Movement, Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, will launch the "Call to Action" on Sunday. Their objective:

Organize 10,000 men to deter illegal behavior and "increase the safety and sense of community" in their neighborhoods.

This unprecedented grassroots effort reflects the community's desperation to reach young black men who are both victims (more than 70 percent of all homicides are black males) and perpetrators.

Yale sociologist Elijah Anderson spoke before the Trotter Group's recent meeting in Philadelphia. Dr. Anderson is author of "A Place on the Corner: A Study of Black Street Corner Men" and "Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of The Inner City," an ethnography of Philadelphia street life.

I asked Dr. Anderson (no relation) whether he thought the organizers would meet their objective and stem the wave of violence. He said it's a "great symbolic gesture" but they need to address the root causes, including father absence, the availability of guns, the drug trade, and structural poverty:

The jobs have left and the ones that are left behind are now competing with working class whites, legal and illegal immigrants, and older workers returning to the workforce. The underground economy emerges to pick up the slack.

Dr. Anderson said young black men are profoundly alienated. They believe there are two different systems of justice:

Civil justice is weak so you go back to street justice – an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The system has set people up with short fuses. If someone violates them, you have to respond in such a way so that they won't do it again. When there's stability and confidence in the system, folks call 911 and have matters settled by the civil or criminal system.

When civil law is weak, street justice fills the void and street cred is everything.

Clearly, elected officials, policymakers and community leaders must do more to boost confidence in the judicial process. Meanwhile, "Killadelphia" is drowning in a pool of blood.

It's said a drowning man will grab a razor blade. So symbolic or not, the 10,000 men initiative is a start.

For more info, click here.

Spitzer's License Plan Backfires

When I pulled the lever for Eliot Spitzer in November, I thought I was voting for governor. But Spitzer apparently thinks he was elected emperor of the Empire State.

Spitzer says his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens makes "common sense." But a Siena Research Institute poll found seventy-two percent of New York voters think it makes no sense.

Siena College spokesman Steven Greenberg said:

The voters' message to the Governor is clear: "No, no, no." Opposition to the Spitzer proposal is intense, with 41 percent strongly opposing it and only 7 percent strongly supporting it.

Nearly two-thirds of voters believe that the Governor's proposal poses a national security risk, and two-thirds disagree with the argument that it will lower auto insurance costs. Even most Democrats are on the opposite side of the fence from the Governor on those questions. Voters from every region of New York overwhelmingly oppose Governor Spitzer on this issue.

And New Yorkers are not alone. According to a CNN/Opinion Research poll, 76 percent of blacks and 83 percent of whites nationwide oppose issuing driver's licenses to illegals.

While the wheels have come off Congressional Republicans, Spitzer's reckless proposal has put Albany Republicans in the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, the little emperor has blown a gasket and cut funds for a free health care clinic in retaliation.

The New York state legislature will convene a special session starting Monday. In anticipation, Spitzer sent a blast email to his supporters:

Its [sic] time for the Senate Majority to stop playing the politics of self-preservation and start showing the leadership it so ardently claims to possess.

Your legislators are accountable for the work they do—or fail to do—and I encourage you to communicate to them our shared belief that the status quo is simply no longer acceptable. At www.spitzer2010.com, you can contact your legislator and ask them to carry out the people's business when he or she returns next week.

Fine. But will Spitzer carry out the will of the people and revoke his irresponsible plan? As worrisome, Spitzer would give a nondriver's ID to any illegal who wants one.

To communicate your opposition to Spitzer's imperial "administrative policy change," click here.

Jena 6: Race and Juvenile Injustice

The House Judiciary Committee's hearing on Jena 6 marks a turning point in the federal government's response to hate crimes and race-related school violence. The witnesses included:

• Richard Cohen, president and CEO, Southern Poverty Law Center
• Rev. Brian Moran, pastor, Jena Antioch Baptist Church, and president, NAACP Jena Chapter
• Charles J. Ogletree Jr., executive director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School
• Rev. Al Sharpton, president, National Action Network
• Donald Washington, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana

The hearing was a study in contrasts. On one side, Democrats, led by Chairman John Conyers Jr., voiced outrage at the double standard of juvenile justice and the Justice Department's cavalier response to allegations of hate crimes.

The other side was largely no-shows. A few Republicans showed up long enough to express their concern for Justin Barker, the white teen whose beating led to the arrest of the Jena 6.

It's important to note that no one condones the beatdown. Instead, the issue is the "two-tier justice system." The black teens were "dramatically overcharged" – attempted second degree murder – for a school fight that should have been handled by the school system.

Rep. Dan Lungren asserted a relationship between "family structure" and juvenile delinquency. Lungren used "single parent family" as a proxy for race.

Prof. Ogletree flatly rejected Lungren's claim:

It's not the structure of the family. It's the structure of the criminal justice system. It's too easy to say "family structure" is the cause and consequence of the problem. It's bigger than that. You must also look at disparities in punishment and charges.

Later on National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation, Ogletree said:

A noose is a hate crime. The government chose not to prosecute them…That's what makes people so upset. Why is it that one set of conduct which violates the law was prosecuted. And another set was handled within the school system. It's a disparity. It's based on race and it's hard to justify under these circumstances.

To read the witnesses' prepared testimony, click here.

Whither Black America?

In a recent column, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote:

What do Fox News polemicist Bill O'Reilly, nappy-headed radio jock Don Imus, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the leading Republican presidential candidates, the National Urban League, the NAACP and much of the national media have in common?

They don't see, or don't want to admit, that "black America" is an increasingly meaningless concept - nearly as imprecise as just plain "America."

Robinson added:

The problem is that we all say we want an "honest dialogue" about race, but we've been having the same old arguments for years - affirmative action, inner-city dysfunction, overt and covert racism - and we seem to be stuck. We need a new language, a new vocabulary and syntax.

In a similar vein, AAOpinion Publisher asks whether a white African can join the African American Opinion Social Networking Blog (disclosure: I'm a member). Douglas wants to join the Afrosphere "to engage in dialogue about black people."

Hmm, what do you think?  Send me your thoughts.

I Heart New York

Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently launched a first-ever multimedia campaign to promote tourism, "This is New York City." Bloomberg said:

Everyone who has visited the City already knows about our unparalleled diversity, excitement, culture, shopping and entertainment - but we want the rest of the world to know that our doors are open and there is something here for everyone to enjoy.

As the locals know, one doesn't have to spend a lot of money to have a good time. In fact, I attended a performance of renowned la Filarmonica della Scala at the World Financial Center Winter Garden that didn't cost a dime.

La Scala Philharmonic is from Milan. As I sat in the Winter Garden, I reminisced about my visit to La Scala Opera House and the world's oldest shopping mall. I remembered my surprise in discovering that "The Last Supper" is not hanging in a museum. Rather, it's a mural on a wall in the refectory of a small church.

After the performance, I walked along the Esplanade to CultureFest, a celebration of the city's diverse cultural offerings.

I'm a culture vulture who appreciates both the highbrow and lowbrow. So I happily took a seat on Bus #2969, a replica of which Jackie Gleason drove in "The Honeymooners."

The bus was in service circa 1946 to 1949. The driver told me he had driven to the festival from the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot, which is not far from my apartment. I asked whether I could ride back to Brooklyn with him. His response: Fudgetaboutit.

I love New York.

African Burial Ground

For all those who were lost
For all those who were stolen
For all those who were left behind
For all those who were not forgotten

Last week, I attended the dedication of the African Burial Ground National Monument, the final resting place for 419 colonial-era Africans whose remains were disturbed in 1991 during the excavation for the federal office building at 290 Broadway.

Park Ranger Douglas Massenburg said an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 African men, women and children who lived during the 17th and 18th centuries are buried beneath the streets of Lower Manhattan. The monument is "a memorial to those who built New York City…The ancestors serve as guardians overseeing the cemetery and the memorial."

Rodney Léon, co-founder of AARRIS Architects, designed an elegant stone memorial befitting the African kings and queens who were stolen, lost and forgotten. As the New York Times editorialized:

When New York was growing rapidly and devouring what remained of its open space, the African dead were paved over and forgotten by the city they'd helped to build. Thanks to this moving memorial, which draws heavily on African religious symbols and burial rites, they won't be forgotten again.

For more info, visit the African Burial Ground Monument Foundation.